To Spin A Tale
by Attracted2Insanity
Summary: Rumpelstiltskin meets Belle when she is younger. At her request he tells her a tale. They continue to meet at odd moments, before and after they make their deal.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N : So this walked into my mind and had to be written. Started as something else but, as you can see, it didn't end up that way. Un-beta-ed. I may write more if it is taken well. Thanks- Attracted2Insanity _

_BTW: I own nothing, sadly._

**To Spin A Tale**

"Who are you?" The girl asked. I was draped in a cloak with a hood pushed low so my face was hidden.

"I am a spinner. I spin yarn and thread." I said.

"Oh. What kind of thread do you spin?"

"Gold seems to be popular these days." I quipped.

The girl looked at my hands which she could see a little of. "You must be talented with your hands then."

"I am" I responded with a little bit of a giggle, as I waved them around a bit.

"Is your tongue as talented?" she asked.

I stumbled over my words, by Gods she was only thirteen, was she truly asking what I thought she was? "Wh-What do you mean?"

"You said you could spin yarn. Can you spin stories as easily as you can spin flax?"

Ah, that was what she was after. "My tongue is quite talented, milady. Would you care to hear a tale?"

"Oh yes! Yes, please!" her face brightened up and she looked beautiful.

"Let me think…" I cast my mind forward to see what would befall this girl in the future and saw her, a great beauty, bargaining with me to save her kingdom from the Ogre Wars. I would tell her that tale.

"Once upon a time, there was a maiden. This was no ordinary maiden, for she was a princess."

"They always are." The girl sighed.

"They have to be," I told her, "For who would enjoy a tale of a girl who awakens each day to clean the cottage. Then, she bakes bread and does laundry, brings her father and brothers water in the fields, begins to cook supper and mends clothing, and before she goes to bed insures that there is breakfast ready for the next day. Then she wakes up and does it all again."

The girl giggled. "Your right, no one wants to read about that."

I chuckled. "This princess was smart, and kind, and beautiful. One year her kingdom was attacked by Ogres. Her land began to fall into ruin. The people were dying, and her father had betrothed her to a vain man in hopes of helping. The girl did not love this man, but she understood the necessity of the marriage. On the eve before the kingdom fell, a great sorcerer came to the kingdom."

"What is a sore-sir?" the girl interrupted.

I laughed a true laugh for the first time in eons. "A sore-cer-or, dearie, is a man who can do magic."

"Oh, okay."

"This sorcerer could save the kingdom. But it would cost the King dearly."

"Why?" asked the girl. I was coming to like her more and more, she was sensible and asked good, relevant questions.

"All magic come with a price. One can never get something for nothing."

"Not even gifts?"

"Not even gifts. For gifts you give friendship or being family, and those are both very high prices."

"That makes sense." Said the girl, "Please, go on."

"The sorcerer said that his price would be the girl. His estate was rather large and was in need of a good cleaning. And he was a little lonely.

"The girl's father and fiancé did not want her to go with this man who was feared all across the realms. They argued, they said that the price was too high, that they would find another way. But the girl knew this was a lie. There was no other way, and the kingdom was worth it. In truth she did not think he was as bad as the rumors' painted him. She went with the man. "

"What happened?" asked the girl, enthralled with my tale of her future.

"Well, what do you think happened?"

"I think that they fell in love and they lived happily ever after. The end." She said.

I smiled. She would not say that if she knew the story was about us. "If you say so, dearie."

A voice from the distance called, "Belle!"

"That's my Papa." said the girl. "I should go. Thank you for the tale."

"You're welcome, dearie."

She giggled. "Oh, by the way, your tongue is talented."

"Thank you, milady. I feel sure that we will meet again some time."

Rumpelstiltskin drifted back from the memory.

"_What happened?" _Belle had asked me.

I knew the answer now.

She died.

High up in a tower Belle recalled her first meeting with Rumpelstiltskin. She had not known then that the tale he spun has theirs.

_I think that they fell in love and they lived happily ever after._

Belle had said it then, and she said it now. They had fallen in love. They would live happily ever after.

She would make sure of it.


	2. Chapter 2

AN/ Sorry. Who ever said senior year of highschool was easy needs to hide before i burry them under all the work i have to do.

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The tower was set a ways back from the castle. It was surrounded by woods on all sides. This was so that no one would hear her screams. It would interrupt the day to day business of the town. At least, that was what the clerics told her.

Belle had grown used to the routine. Breakfast at dawn, questions at mid-morning, lunch at noon, pain until dinner, questions again, and then sleep on the cold, hard stone floor and dream of her love. Wake up and do it all again. But today the routine would change, for today was the day. Today she was getting out.

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I watched as Belle strolled through the gardens with her betrothed. She seemed bored, disinterested. He was attempting to woo her by regaling her with tales of his battles. It wouldn't work. I had met the girl once and I could have told him he was wasting his time. He was a fool if he thought he could earn her love that way. Then again, I wasn't entirely sure he wanted her love anyway. Her money, her beauty, her power, yes, but her love… I did not think so.

Not that he would get it any ways. Oh no, she would never love a dull, brute like Gaston. At least, I hoped she wouldn't.

And, if the look on her face was any indication, my hopes were not in vain.

"Look, Gaston," I heard her say. "This is not really the best time to be out and about."

I could not resist. The opportunity was just too perfect. So I appeared in front of them.

"Yes, Gaston, now is not a good time to be walking about." I imitated her voice, and then dropped back into my own high pitched cackle. "You can't protect her from everything, you brute."

He had valiantly pushed her behind him when I appeared. But Belle seemed more interested than frightened.

"Back foul beast! You shall not harm my beloved!" he brandished his sword at me.

"Tsk. Put that thing down, you are going to hurt someone and it is not going to be me. Lovely to see you again, milady."

Belle gasped in recognition. "My story teller!" she said, far too low for Gaston to have heard, but I caught it.

"When have you seen my beloved before, creature!" asked the man.

"Will you stop with the 'beloved' thing." I asked him. "You are not fooling any one here."

"I … but … wh…" Gaston spluttered.

"You should learn to lie better if you intend to do it so often." I smirked. He ran.

"You shouldn't frighten people like that." She said.

"I have to gain amusement from somewhere. Anyways I just came to say, if you need me you need only make a deal."

"Well, that's not cryptic." she said.

"Just a piece of advice." I disappeared before her eyes.

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Bell ran through the forest in her tattered gown. She would make it back to the Dark Castle. She had to. For the safety of her, and her child.


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing. Damn.**

Rumpelstiltskin sat at his wheel spinning straw into more gold than he could ever need. It helped him to forget. Forget his one true love that had died. His fault, all his fault.

He sighed he could not even spin anymore without thinking about her. She fell from the ladder. It was not the first time he had caught her like that. He wondered if she had remembered…

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Belle reached. Just a little higher and she could get the book without her father's help. That would be an accomplishment. The library was so large, and filled with all sorts of books.

She pushed off the ladder with one foot, reaching with one hand and with the other anchoring her to the movable ladder. Almost there!

And then she was falling. Down, down, down she went. She was stopped by a pair of solid arms.

"Careful, dearie. It's a long way down." He twittered. "What would have happened to you if I wasn't here to save the day? Hmmmm? You would have been in a spot of trouble."

"You always seem to be near when I am in trouble." She responded.

"It's my job. Deals with the desperate, extracting prices, you know the usual."

"Well, you're my knight in shining armor. And you can let go of me now."

He dropped her and stepped back. In truth he had forgotten he was holding her. She fit so perfectly in his arms. For a thirteen year old, that was. He supposed he would see her later in his life.

After all, Dark Castle was beginning to get dusty.

In a cloud of purple smoke he vanished.

Belle shrugged, said thank you to the air one last time, and settled in to read her book.

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Belle burst into the castle without thinking, the automatically opening at her touch, like always. The men had followed her onto his grounds, more afraid of what their employer would do to them if they failed, than the feared Dark One.

She only hoped he was actually home and not off dealing. That would be so like him. Abandoning her when she needed him most, just like before. She burst through the doors of the great hall, not caring that her gown was in shreds, her hair was tangled and had filled with twigs and leaves, and that her face was dirt smeared, and her hands were bloody.

She just needed him to save the day. To be her knight in shining armor one last time.

**AN: Hopefuly it wont take as long next time. Thanks to Twyla Mercedes for making me feel guily and posting more. **


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